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UNSC/ONI Biographical Records
CLASSIFIED
Warning: These files are classified. If evidence is found that any unauthorized personnel have viewed this file, then they will be immediately stripped of their rank, discharged, and brought under investigation by The Office of Naval Intelligence.
…Accessing. File 01/425 of PROJECT: CHRYSANTHEMUM: Delta Company
Spartan-III D001 - Flynn Harne Biographical Information
Birth date: February 28 2537
Species: Human; Male
Homeworld: Earth
Date upon Conscription: August 4 2547. Conscripted under special circumstances; Colonel James Ackerson scouted Lt. Commander Harne while planning PROJECT: CHRYSANTHEMUM: Delta Company on Earth.
Date of Augmentation: August 12 2547
Results of Augmentation: 100 success; First active upon completion of recovery processes.
Training: Exceeded all expectations; deemed Leader of Fire Team Frito by SCPO Franklin Mendez. Note: Was the leading hand-to-hand Combatant in Delta Company. As a result, got into several fights while training on Onyx, despite his great fondness of the rest of his comrades in Delta Company. Also, broke SCPO Mendez' arm during final combat examination.
First Combat Deployment: Battle of the Scandinavian Space Freight Elevator, October 21, 2552. Battle Transcript follows.
140: A Single Covenant Assault Carrier finds a hole in UNSC Defensive Cluster Kilo.
156: Scouts from the CAC see that the Scandinavian Space Freight Elevator was delivering ammunition to DC Kilo.
200: CAC dispatches excessive amounts of Orbital Insertion Pods to the base of the SSFE with several payloads of Anti-Matter for disabling the SSFE.
214: The Spartan-IIIs of Delta Company at Camp Allen in Sundsvall, Sweden are brought to Combat Alert Alpha and ordered to protect the SSFE at all costs.
220: Delta Company arrives near the base of the SSFE. They are greeted by Covenant resistance.
235: Fire Team Frito, led by D001, is the first team to reach the SSFE. Frito receives information that all other teams of Delta Company are pinned down at various points around the SSFE. Frito provides covering fire for incoming Spartan-IIIs.
237: Covenant Forces withdraw for unknown reasons. All remaining members of Delta Company arrive at the base of the SSFE.
238: Engineers of Delta Company begin attempts to deactivate the Anti-Matter charges at the base of the SSFE.
239: The Elites make a full-frontal assault on remaining Spartan-IIIs.
246: After several minutes of defense, more of the Spartan-IIIs in the area have been eliminated. The Anti-Matter Charges were successfully deactivated.
247: Covenant forces overrun the remaining defense at the SSFE, and the remaining Spartan-IIIs fall back into the base beneath the Elevator. D001 orders the remaining Spartans to activate their S.P.I. Armor, separate, and attempt to get back to the surface.
250: D001 and the other members of Delta Company meet up on the surface. There is an estimated 300 Elites still in the SSFE Subterranean Base.
251: ONI Prowler Point of no Return arrives at the base of the SSFE for relief of the remaining Spartan-IIIs.
252: D049 programs the SSFE to rise up to a height of 5000 feet and then enter freefall. D049 also locks the doors, keeping the remaining Covenant forces locked in the subterranean base. The Spartan-IIIs leave the SSFE in the ONI Prowler.
255: The platform of the SSFE impacts the Titanium/Chromium Base, causing a shockwave that combusts the heads of all Covenant forces still inside the subterranean base.
Result: UNSC victory, at the cost of 1/2 of Delta Company.
Manuscript of the Battle
Ship Master 'Notodee looked impatiently around the bridge of the Peacemaker. Engineers, Grunts, and Elites ran every which way, telling of what the humans were doing and what we should have been doing.
"Sir, shields at 48 percent!"
"Plasma Turrets 30 through 46 are offline!"
"Aft Engines are overheating!"
'Notodee tried to clear his head. All he could hear was the yelling of every soldier on deck. Regret's carrier had punched through the Human Defensive Grid hours ago, and they were being obliterated without a good sense of leadership.
"Sir! The Recurring Fury just punched a hole in the Human Defensive Grid!"
At this, 'Notodee perked up. He clicked his mandibles in subtle delight.
"All right! We are going to fly through that hole and take this fight to the surface!" 'Notodee said in his commanding voice.
The ship's pilots maneuvered around the Human Gun Platforms and towards the gap. The Peacemaker's automated Point-Defense lasers cut through the hulls of incoming Human vessels. 'Notodee watched as the planet on the view screen grew larger and larger. Then, an obscurity caught his eye. A large steel rafter, connected to a meteor was making a loud oomph-oomph-oomph noise he could feel in his boots. Human ships, mostly frigates, were docking with the rafter just below the meteor. Then he realized: It was delivering ammunition to the ships. He knew that he had to cut off the Human vessels' refueling method. He turned to the video panel on his Captain's chair.
"Sir!" he addressed Admiral 'Xytanoree. "Permission to land on the planet and cut off the Human's ammunition delivery system."
'Xytanoree thought for a moment. "Permission denied, Ship Master. We need all the defense we can get in Space. You can, however, send in a ground team to disable it planet side."
"Thank you Admiral." 'Notodee said.
His comm chirped. "Ship Master?" a voice crackled through.
"Yes commander?" 'Notodee answered.
"What are your orders?"
"Order all Elites not needed on board to get to an Orbital Insertion Pod. We are taking this fight to the surface." 'Notodee said.
"Yes Ship Master." Said the commander.
The comm crackled back out. He clicked his mandibles once again, and sat back in his chair as he watched a thousand black pods rocket to the planet's surface.
----
Spartan D001 Flynn sat in his temporary room at Camp Allen in Sundsvall, Sweden. He was reading the day's battle reports on his HoloPad. Even with the heat cranked and in winter attire, he was still cold; enough so to see his breath.
"Damn cold." He said as he shivered. "I'd rather be back on Onyx. Or at least fighting those uglies up in space."
"I hear that." said D057 - Mike. "While we're down here, freezing our balls off, our 'elders' upstairs are having all the fun. Man, what I wouldn't give to see one of those bastards up close and-" he put his hands like he was holding an Assault Rifle, "BANG! Right between the eyes!" he said. Even though neither of us were even 18, even some Spartan-IIs were surprised at our eagerness to fight.
Poor Mike had lost both his parents during the siege of Jericho VIII, and was itching to fight. He was 17, contrary to my 15, and had been one of my closest friends during the training process. His long, brown hair came down to the bottom of his ears, and his blue eyes darted around the page of his magazine. He had Military in his family: every male in his family back 13 generations had been in the military. He even taught me some things his father learned as a Marine: shield weak spots, what to do to make a Grunt cry, and even Sangheili genitalia. One shot there, and they would "squeal like a piggahy!" as Mike said.
I, myself, didn't know my father all to well. We were living on Earth, and he supposedly went off to join the Marines. He was in the papers getting awards, and then he was just gone. No obituary, no nothing. It was like he had disappeared. Mom, on the other hand, worked for Military Intelligence, and was rarely home. She was around, but maybe once a week. When I was called by Ackerson, I didn't want to tell my Mom that I was going to go into the Spartan-III Program. Instead, I told her that I was going into the UNSC Spec Ops Corps, and was gonna be away a while. She bought it, but I felt horrible lying to my Mother.
My train of thought was broken by a Klaxon.
"Th' hell?" Mike said.
"Oh, great." I said. I, too, was anxious to fight, but when I realized what we were being urgently called for, I got a rotten feeling in the pit of my gut.
I heard Ackerson over the speaker. "All Spartan-IIIs come to the briefing room. Now!"
Mike started to say "Ahh, what ev-"
"That means you too, Mike." He said sternly.
"Dammit." Mike grumbled. He threw down his magazine and put a shirt on.
I decided that if Mike actually did go to the meeting, it had to be of at least some importance. I threw down my HoloPad and left. In the hallway, I caught up with D049 - Lindsay in the hallways.
"Hey, babe!" I said, jokingly. Ever since the first exercises we participated in, and she called me "Sugar", I returned the favor in my own way, just to get her goat.
"So, what do you reckon this is all about?" She said in her Southern accent.
"I dunno, but it can't be good." I answered as I stepped into the conference room.
----
Travel to the Scandinavian Space Freight Elevator, eliminate all Covenant forces in the area, which were all Elites, deprogram four Anti-Matter charges, haul each of the half-ton bombs onto a Bus-sized Prowler, and then get out of there all under one hour.
That was our mission. Unfortunately, the survival rate for this mission, even though they didn't tell us what it was, was extremely low. 300 shieldless adolescent humans against 1000 battle-hardened Elites with weapons the surpassed our own by light-years gave us odds like finding a needle in a haystack, the needle being survivors and the haystack being dead Spartans.
I went back to the room and began to get dressed. First, my form-fitting Body Glove. The armor had to completely cover the glove, or else the stealth wouldn't work. Leg armor first. I strapped on the thigh plates and shin plates, and then added the boots, which looked like rounded-off bricks. Mike helped me out with my upper paneling: Chest, shoulders, and back. I helped him also, and the found my helmet. The odd, egg shaped helmet met a bubble dome that provided the visor.
Mike slapped together his MA5K and strapped seven extra clips into panels concealed in the armor. He had gotten some DU; depleted uranium, rounds from an "unknown contributor", he lies. He gave me a couple clips, but kept the other eight for himself. They pack a bigger punch, so to speak. Instead of taking ten shots to deplete a shield, it took three, and they made what ever was behind the shield reel back in amazement.
He thought that the DU rounds plus semiautomatic fire made for serious killing. I opted for the single shot setting for my MA5K. Since it could fire as fast as you could pull the trigger, I thought that it was more controllable and accurate than auto-fire.
We piled into the Prowler Transport and their Squad Pods by team. I looked around. My squad was full of familiar faces, friends and ex-enemies. D017 – Carlo, the joker of the team; D093 – Sarah, a girl who could lift more weight than any guy in our squad; D299 – Matt, the resident Rocker with a thing for old stuff: Metallica, AC/DC, Rush, etc; D118 – Christine, the sniper and conscious of the group; and Mike. Our Fire Team, Frito, was supposedly the best in Delta Company. We were about to meet the enemy by method of Aerial Shock Drop, followed by hard contact and heavy resistance. This was our time.
----
We flew through the air with the other two ships behind us. The six of us were separated from all 294 of the rest of our brothers and sisters, and yet, we still felt as if we were right there with them.
"30 seconds to drop, kids, and y'all have fun down there, ya hear?"
Heh. Friggin Pilots.
We looked around, just to make sure we all were still there, and put on our helmets. I could faintly hear Matt's music over the comm.
"Sound off!" I yelled into my comm.
After I heard five shouts, I thought I oughtta comfort the skittish ones among us. "You all ready? Make sure you've got a bead on 'em before you shoot, and watch the crossfire. Now, if you need me, just yell and I'll be on that Covie Ugly like stink on crap."
"Thanks, Flynn." I heard a few times.
From up front, "All right kids. Here! We! Go!"
I smiled. "You ready to rock, Matt?"
"Hahaha! Like a Hurricane, baby!"
"Yeah, you two'll be gabbin' while I'm doin' all the Killin'!" Sarah retaliated.
"Mark!"
We dropped. It was an instant of weightless bliss I felt, and then I heard the whooping of Carlo. Crazy Bastard.
The HUD in my helmet told me that the Titanium on our hull was staying intact at 73. As long as it stayed above 65, we would probably survive the fall.
Probably.
WHAM!!! Our Squad Pod hit the ground like a ton of bricks, and I could feel the impact in my teeth.
"Earn this armor, folks!" I heard Mike yell. One by one, the teenagers next to me disappeared. You couldn't even see the outlines of the user that Active Camo left; they were GONE, like they weren't even there. The door on our Squad Pod flew off, and I heard a yelp of pain. It wasn't Human, and I knew that we had flattened one of those Split-Lips with the door. Man, if they all were that easy…..
We hopped out of the Squad Pod and crept stealthily towards the next large hill, covered in snow. The fact that it was dark didn't make things any better; I told the squad to switch to night vision. I unlimbered my MA5K and motioned my squad to do the same. There weren't any Aliens on the Motion detector, so I moved the squad up over the hill. Luckily for us, the entire base of the SSFE was in a sort of bowl, providing a lip that we could sit on and pick them off. I switched to my in-helmet Binoculars and examined the battlefield.
There were hundreds of Elites down there, and Elites alone, too. Planting explosive, monitoring the area, setting up lights, talking in their alien tongue and more. I told our team to wait on top of the lip and wait for the other teams to get into position. Christine, as if she was reading my mind, got out her sniper rifle and got ready. I waited.
"Fire Team Zealous in Position."
"Fire Team Douglas, ready to go."
"Fire Team Ryan, Ready."
I heard all other teams call in, and wait for my command. I waited for a minute, just to see what happened. I saw one Elite motion to something dangerously close to our position.
"Hey Christine, you see that Bug looking at us?"
"Yeah."
"All other teams, wait until you see members of Frito fire, than fire at will."
"What about the Elite?" Carlo asked.
I laughed. "Make him bleed."
What was an Elite an instant ago was now a pair of legs.
Every Elite in the bowl had turned towards our position. And raised their guns.
"Oh, snap, we're in it now!" yelled Sarah.
White streaks flew from all around the bowl and impacted right into Elite. The other members of Delta Company began firing right into the mass of Covenant soldiers. We didn't even have to aim. They fell by the hundreds, and they were in utter chaos. I could see it now. "Blarg Blarg Blarg! Honk Honk Bla-errghh!" Brought a smile to my face.
I saw that they had finally smartened up and were moving to cover. They would dive into a metal tent and wait it out. I started yelling "Cease Fire! Cease Fire!". There were naturally a few shots of overkill, due to the cruel nature of some of the soldiers in our company.
The ground was blanketed in dead Elite; at least half of their original numbers. I wasn't sure if there were any wounded, or even how many were still left alive.
"Christine, stay here. I'll radio if we need any backup. Just to be sure." I said.
"Okay. No prob." She was very understanding; more than most of the group. Also, she didn't have the violent tendencies that others did.
"Reload, and follow me." I heard guns click and click again. We walked towards the Covenant camp, making careful not to touch anything that could make noise. The only noise that we could hear was the crunch of snow beneath our feet, the occasional moaning Elite, which was usually followed by the POP of an MA5K.
The snow was dyed a deep purple, and it smelled disgusting. Alien Guts. Ewww.
"Detecting Motion. Rifles up!" Carlo said, in a hushed voice.
We turned in all directions and looked for anything to shoot. We all stood back to back, and slowly rotated, so we could cover all directions.
Two Elites came out of hiding and roared right at us. Stupid, I thought, We shouldn't have left the camouflage off.
We fired at them. They fired at us. I squeezed the trigger so fast it was like it was on Semi-Auto. The Elites reeled back, still firing their Plasma Rifles at us. Once one had fallen due to a headshot by Matt, Mike ran up at the other who was still standing, pulled out his Combat Knife, and jammed it right into the Elite's chest. The Elite let out a long moan, and then just looked at Mike like he was even more pissed than before. It threw Mike off his feet, and took out a Plasma Grenade.
"Aw, crap!" I yelled. "Duck for cover!" Everyone jumped out of the way, and we saw a peculiar sight: the Elite activated the grenade, stuck itself on the arm, and then began to run towards us. No one was in position to shoot the Elite, now that we had dived out of the way. But, I had a guardian angel; we all did. No sooner did the Elite take one step then did he lose his arm to Christine. She shot it off at the shoulder, and it ended up flying twenty feet back before detonating.
"Jeez, fellas, I didn't know you needed me that bad!" I heard Christine say.
"Woman, I'm buying you a steak after this!" Mike yelled.
The poor Elite had been stabbed, pumped full of lead, lost an arm, and was still alive. It fell over, just staring at the rest of us, speaking in its native tongue. It was pretty pitiful.
We walked over to it, since it obviously wasn't a threat to us anymore, and looked. Matt and Sarah were taking care of Mike, and Carlo came with me to look at the Elite.
"Dang it, man, just end it already." I said. Even though this thing had probably killed several people, several Humans, I still felt sorry for it.
I turned away, and heard the POP of the MA5K. It made me jump. Then, it felt as if I was outside my body looking in. Why was I feeling sorry for this thing? It had probably killed lots of Marines just because his false Gods told him, and had no real clue why he was killing in the first place. Slaughter just for the sake of it. Yeah, he deserved it.
----
We finally got to the base of the FFSE, near the doors that led underground for the personnel. Unfortunately, we got there too late. All the workers had been slaughtered by the Elites.
Just then, we got a radio. The night had suddenly been lit up with Blue light and White bursts. "Listen, man, everything down here is FUBAR! We need covering fire!"
"Sit tight, man, here it comes!" I turned to my squad. "Covering Fire! Make sure those troops get here!" We opened up. The DU rounds Mike gave me had been a life saver; they helped to take down those Elites we met a minute ago. We fired towards the crowds of soldiers, both Elite and Human. We saw several Elites go down, but also several Spartans. I could hear the screams of teenage boys and girls echoing through my Comm, and just got even madder. "Didn't I say to make sure those kids survive?!?!?! Kill those friggin' Squids, Dammit!" Our squad just fired faster. Several sniper shots rang out, and we saw several more Elites fall, but not enough too prevent any more Spartan casualties.
----
After a minute or two more of prolonged firing, the remaining Spartans reached the base of the SSFE. I talked to the survivors, and found our losses. 59 had died, and we had 207 Spartans at the SSFE Subterranean Base entrance; the rest were sniping on the ridge.
I was also getting reports from some team leaders that the Elites had just turn and run. The made their way towards the lip of the bowl and then visuals were lost.
Our engineers had started to deactivate the Anti-Matter Bombs. Lucky for us, They hadn't set a timer on the explosives yet, and they were waiting for someone to come along and make them explode. First, they shut down the bombs. Then, they cut off all those pesky spikes that kept them in place. It was going smoothly: the Elites were gone, we got the Bombs, and had minimal casualties. Then I realized: It was too easy. I instantly got a bad feeling in my gut.
I walked over to Sarah. "Man, Sarah, I got a bad feeling about this."
"What do you mean?" she queried.
"Elites never turn tail and run unless they're coming back even badder." I paused. "Gimme the Comms booster. I'm calling in our Snipers." I waited until the large dark green box had the same frequency as my radio, and I spoke. "Alright Party People! Helluva good start! Unfortunately, the Split-Lips are planning something big. Get on back here."
We couldn't wing it with those things coming back. We needed a plan.
"Hey! Flynn." I heard behind me.
I turned around. It was a short, blonde-haired boy, and he couldn't have been more than 12. He was too young to be fighting, in my opinion. "Hey man, I got a plan to kill those baddies. You wanna hear it?"
I stood for a moment. "Tcch. Yeah man, I'm open for suggestions."
----
"Allright, so here's the plan: Were gonna defend this platform at all costs. I think they've got 450 to 500 soldiers left still alive, so we're gonna have to go all out. The odds are a measly two to one, odds I know we can handle."
"Hey, dipstick, what happens if we get overrun?" I heard from the crowd.
"Well, uh," I looked around, "We're gonna lure them into the Subterranean base, and try to lock 'em up. Now, get to defensive positions."
I saw a good 200 soldiers fan out and get into a ring shaped position around the SSFE. They all looked nervous, but I had a feeling that this mission was going to end well.
Finally, the Snipers began coming back in. I saw lots of them walk up, get ready for battle, but I didn't see Christine. I worried. I guess that was my shortcoming: caring too much. I always made sure all of my squad mates were okay before doing something big, like this. I fired up my Comms.
"Hey Christine! Where you at?" Static. "Christine!" More static.
Then, I started to hear something. "Fly….ovenant on rid…..eed help…..nyone!"
I flipped again to my Binocular setting in my helmet. I could see her fighting back five Covie troops with a sniper in one hand and a Magnum in the other.
"Get Ready! Here they come!" I heard from a few feet away.
"Sniper! Someone gimme a Sniper!" I yelled. An armor-clad teen with a rifle as tall as he was came over next to me. "You see that Spartan on the ridge?" He nodded. "Get rid of those things chasing her."
I heard three shots ring out and saw four Elites fall. Christine no-scoped the fifth, and as soon as she saw that they all were dead, she began sprinting towards the base of the SSFE.
But she wasn't alone. Just as she broke into a sprint, a bunch of Elites came over the ridge, at least twenty, and they all were gunning for her. The good thing about those Plasma Rifles was that they were pretty inaccurate, unless you were closer than thirty feet.
I thought she was gonna make it. She was more than halfway to us. But then, one lucky Elite scored a hit on her, burning a hole in the back of her helmet and burning straight through.
"No!" I gasped. It was all I could manage. I had never seen a human die, and with what I just saw, I never wanted to see it again.
Mike saw that I had frozen. "Flynn what…?" He looked towards where I was. "Oh, shit!"
I didn't know what to do, and the others in our company had started firing at the incoming Elites. Their firing and cursing just made it harder to concentrate. I didn't know what else to do. I had to help her. So I ran. I ran for both of our lives.
"Flynn! No! She's already dead!" I heard Mike yell. I didn't care. I needed some solace. I needed to make sure she wasn't going to be forgotten.
When I reached her body, I could almost smell the Elites breath they were so close. Most of the ones who were chasing her originally had disengaged to fight the bulk of our forces at the base of the SSFE. There were three nearing her body. I made a quick look at Christine. She had been shot right in the back of her head, and had a serious burn that looked like it even hit bone. It didn't look like she was moving at all. The three Elites got within fifteen feet of me. I wasn't sure if one of them was the one who got Christine, but every part of my body wanted me to get up and get some killing done. I switched my MA5K to Semi-Auto and fired at the beasts. They returned fire. I downed one of them before it could get more than three shots off. The other two must have known I meant business, and they moved to cover, but I filled one of 'em with lead before he reached cover. The other got to cover right as I pointed the gun at him. I fired a few shots, hoping to hit him, but my gun just clicked and ran out of ammo. I threw it down and unhooked a grenade. Our grenades had to be specially made, in order to not compromise our stealth, blah, blah, blah. They were basically dark green orbs that hooked into our thigh and shin pads. I primed the frag and tossed right behind where the Elite was standing. He dived out of cover and landed five feet from me. The grenade drowned out the sound of me coming up behind him and he probably thought I had retreated. I could imagine his surprise when I turned him around and punched him right in the face. He stepped back a few paces and grabbed his face, probably because I broke something. He clenched his hands into fists and tackled me. He got me around the waist and brought me down into the snow-covered ground. It felt like getting hit by a train. He raised his fist into the air and brought it down with the intention of breaking my helmet in. I rolled out of the way as his fist hit the ground. I planted a good kick right where his kidney should've been if he was Human, and he slid over a few feet. I got up and saw blue flecks of light being emitted from his armor, and I knew that his shields were down. I ran at the Elite as he was sitting back up and slammed into him at thirty miles per hour. When I made contact, we slid about five feet back into one of those metal tents they had set up. The Elites head slammed against the wall and he turned his head back towards me, angry as ever. So I hit him. And I hit him again. Over and over, in the face. The gauntlets for S.P.I. armor were like bricks, so it must have hurt him pretty bad. I was kneeling on his hands, and he couldn't dislodge them. At first, He grunted loudly. The grunts grew gradually softer, and I could see the life draining from his eyes. Whenever I pulled my fist back to punch him again, it would come back a little more purple than the time it went in. I stopped after about ten more seconds, and got up off his body. It lay there against the wall, head caved in; motionless. I looked down at my gloves, and they were almost completely purple with the blood of that Elite. I heard footsteps. I turned towards the door, breathing heavily. I readied myself to jump at whatever was coming through the door. Then, I saw a familiar helmet look in. It was Mike.
"God dang, Flynn what did you d-" he started, but then saw the dead Elite. "Oh." He finished. "You were stupid to come out here alone."
"I know, but I didn't really know what I was doing. I just…" I motioned to the three dead Elites.
"What ever. Come on; help me with Christine's body. Things are getting bad up at the SSFE." Mike reminded me. We gingerly picked up Christine and carried her back to our own.
----
In the five minutes I had gone, everything had fallen to pieces. We lost several Spartan-IIIs, but the Elites lost several ranks of their own, too. They had the brains to get rid of our snipers first, so that they could fight in closer proximity where their weapons were more accurate.
As soon as I got there, I loaded my last DU clip into my MA5K and set it back to single shot. I started at firing at the Elites. It took about five shots to take one down; three if you had exceptional aim. Around me, teenagers were firing wildly into the night, hitting whatever they could manage. I could see four more Spartan-IIIs fall in close proximity to me, and I made the decision to move into the base.
"Everyone! Into the Base, now! Rendezvous at Grid Point Alpha once we're all inside!" Almost all at once, all the troops stopped firing and moved towards the doors that led inside. "Everyone not inside the base, throw a grenade to keep 'em out here!"
People started unhooking their grenades, sometimes more than one at a time, and just threw them into the crowds of Aliens that were on our doorstep. The 'nades would lower their shields, and would force them to wait outside for a few minutes. I picked up Christine and made my way towards the base doors, and saw another thing that broke my heart: the twelve year old that had come to me with the plan lay on his back, with several holes in his armor, and one right in is visor. His blank stare chilled me to the bone. We piled into the Subterranean base, and shut the doors behind us, praying that no human was still out there.
----
Once we all were present and accounted for, I walked over to the Company's medic, who was looking at Christine.
"Well, she ain't dead." He told me. "She's just pretty banged up. That Plasma bolt that hit her hit the top of her spinal cord, and she lost all motor functions. She got hit and just blacked out. A day or two in the stasis pod will fix her up right."
What a relief, I thought.
I turned to the group of Spartan-IIIs in front of me. "All right, guys, here's what we're gonna do: Once those dumb Bugs get in here, everyone turn on your S.P.I. Armor. We'll split up into teams no larger than three, and rendezvous back on top."
As soon as I finished my sentence, a loud banging could be heard. We turned towards the entrance, just to see sparks flying through the crack in the door, which means that they were breaking through the door.
"Activate your armor now!" I yelled. The room was filled with a soft hum, and all soldiers in the room disappeared. Just in time, too; a Plasma Rifle came out from around the corner, and then an Elite stepped out from behind it. It said something incomprehensible, and waved in more Elites. LOTS more Elites. I walked quietly over to a hallway, and clicked my Comm twice: no response; looks like I was on my own. The evasion of the Elites brought back memories of the Hide-and-Seek games we'd play with our S.P.I. Armor. But, then again, this wasn't a game anymore.
----
After a good five minutes of evasion, I decided that it was time to get back to the surface. I moved back across the hallway, and poked my head out around the corner. An Elite surprised me, and I nearly stuck my head right into his chest. I pulled it back quickly and waited for him to pass by. I heard him turn down another hallway, and then walked to the Base's entrance. As soon as I stepped up onto the snow-covered ground, I heard the Base's doors slam behind me. I whipped around, only to see a hundred-some-odd green-clad soldiers standing opposite me. The two who had closed the doors were now welding the two doors shut, as to keep in the Elites. Then I realized: I was the last one out. Weird. They had gotten to work, too: They were moving the bombs towards the LZ, they were programming something into the SSFE, and they were calling in the O.N.I. transports. I walked over to the Spartan-III who was programming the SSFE.
"Umm, what are you doing?" I asked.
"Oh, hey Flynn." It was Lindsay. "I'm re-programming the SSFE to rise up to, oh, let's say 5000 feet. Then, we're going to have it enter freefall, and hopefully it'll smash through the Titanium/Chromium base and kill everything in there."
She was as smart as she was pretty.
The Spartan-IIIs were collecting up all of their ammunition and other supplies, and the dead bodies of their comrades. The O.N.I. Transport arrived as I was going back to check on Christine, and the remaining Spartan-IIIs piled quickly and quietly into the Truck-sized ship. There were four half-ton Anti-Matter Bombs, and each one took about six of us to lift it. Damn, they were heavy. Once all the other troops got onto the ship, I boarded, thinking that this battle was a bit…anticlimactic.
I walked over to Mike. "Hey man. This was a bit…uneventful. I mean, we didn't lose as many soldiers as I thought we would, and we all got out relatively unscathed," I motioned to Christine, "But I wish that our first mission would end with a 'Bang'."
Mike began to laugh. It was a hearty laugh, like I had made a joke. He pulled out a VidPad and showed the screen to me. It was inside the base! I began to laugh, too, and saw an Elite talking into an Uplink crate to a black-armor clad Elite, who was obviously his superior. Then, outside the view port, we saw the SSFE platform suddenly stop, make a loud creaking noise, pause for a few seconds, and then begin to fall freely towards the ground.
"You wanted it to end with a bang?" Mike asked. "Well, just keep watching. It's gonna get a little messy."
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Ship Master 'Notodee heard his comm chirp yet again. He hit a glowing green button on his wrist and the image of a Red-clad Elite shimmered up from his wrist.
"What is it, Commander?" asked 'Notodee.
"We successfully planted Anti-Matter charges at the base of the Elevator," said the Commander. "We are attempting to detonate them remotely. The adolescent Humans have trapped us beneath the Elevator's base, in some type of maintenance area. We are currently looking for a way to-" he was interrupted by a loud creaking noise.
"What was that commander?" asked 'Notodee.
"I am unsure, but it sounds like-" He was cut off once more, as the sound of creaking metal grew louder and louder. "By the Rings! What is-?" He did not finish his sentence, since as soon as he stopped mid sentence, a loud bang was heard that hurt even Ship Master 'Notodee's ears through the comm system. He winced in pain for an instant, just long enough for him to re-open his eyes and watch as the Elite's head he was talking to explode, covering the crate's lens in a deep purple goo. He sat, horrified, as he saw this happen to all other Elites in the camera's background.
He fell back in his chair, horrified. If this is what a few, adolescent Humans can do, 'Notodee thought, then perhaps I have underestimated the Humans as a whole.
All he could do was watch the view screen of the Peacemaker, and think about what fate awaited him at the hands of his newly evaluated enemy.